Combination stopper and brush for bottles.



No. 705,27|. Patented'luly 22. r902.

B. r MINER.

COMBINATION S TOPPER AND BRUSH FOR BOTTLES.

(Application filed Apr. 80, 1901.)

(No Model.)

INVENTOR UNITED 1 STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MINER, OF MONTAGUE, MASSACHUSETTS.

COMBINATION STOPPER A ND BRUSH FQR BOTTLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 705,271, dated July 22, 1902.

Application filed April 30, 1901.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MINER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Montague, in the county of vFranklin 5 and State of Massachusetts, have. invented certain new and useful'lmprovements in Gombination Stoppers andBrushes for Bottles, of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled to in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates more particularly to bottles designed to contain liquid shoe-dressin g or the like and in which a sponge or swab is normally inserted and is adapted to be withdrawn to apply the liquid dressing or the like to a shoe or other article; and the object of my invention is to provide a simple, cheap, readily-constructed, and perfectly operating device of this character by means whereofv the rod or shank of the swab will have a strong and rigid connection with the closure device which customarily forms a part of such a swab and by means whereof there will be 2 5 no sticking or undesirable frictional adhesion of the closure device to the bottle, while yet the closure will be more effective than the style at present adopted.

Oustomarily liquid shoe-dressing is put up in bottles sealed by a cork, from which depends a wire rod carrying a sponge. By using the device the Wire tends to break the cork in half. When the cork is seated in the bottle, it sticks and can only be withdrawn 'by a 3 5 forcible movement and the blacking is spat tered over the person. It is, moreover, only by inserting the cork with extraordinary tightness in the bottle that the contents are prevented from escaping in case the bottle 0 overturns when standing upon a shelf unused;

Transportation is practicallyimpossible after once the bottle has been opened, nor is the closure invariably liquid-tight in all circumstances of transportation of the unsealed bottle.

other minor objects in view my invention consists, primarily, of a bottle provided with terial. Upon. the neck 6 of the bottle, at either side thereof, I mold or otherwise form projections seiinno. 52,110. (No model.)

a closure device comprising an incasing and revoluble fastening, the closure device constituting the handle or a portion thereof, a

rigid block depending from the said closure device, and a swab-rod having its upper end driven immovably into ,therigid block and having its lower end provided with-the usual sponge or. its equivalent; and, secondarily, my invention consists of such a bottle and swab so characterized in which the incasing and revoluble fastening closure is provided between itand the rigid block with a washer or elastic cushion, tending to make a liquidtight connection between the closure and the bottle and likewise between the rigid block and the closure-cap, while the fastenings of the closure and of the rigid block have a tight connection relativelyto the said elastic washer.

Further and finally, my invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in the several views, Figure l is a side View 'of a bottle provided with my improved stopper or closure device; Fig. 2, a sectional side view of the closure device; Fig. 3, a view similar to Fig. 2, showing a modification; and Fig. 4, a view similar to Fig. 1 of the upper portion of a bottle-neck with the cap removed.

In the practice of my invention I construct a bottle'5 of any approved pattern and ma- Customarily such bottles are of glass.

or flanges 8, which are angular in form or bayonet-shaped, so as practically to leave beneath them a groove or.- grooves 8.

The closure device embodies a cap 7, consisting of a cylindrical body'portion and a disk or top piece 7, andinwardly-directed projections or lugs 9 are formed in the opposite sides of the body portion of the cap, and these lugs are adapted to engage with and rest beneath the bayonet-shaped or angular projections 8 to lock and hold the cap on the neck of the bottle. The upper end of the bayonet-shaped projections 8 is curved in the manner customary with such fastenings, so as to tighten the cap upon the bottle when it is turned.

WVithin the center of the cap 7 I secure an elongated conical block 10, of wood or similar material, which is of proper rigidity, and I preferably connect this block in a rigid manner to the disk or top 7 of the cap by means of a screw 7". The block 10 is much narrower than the bottle-mouth. Between the block 10 and the disk or top 7 I insert a packing-disk 11, preferably made of cork, against which in practice the mouth of the bottle presses, and this packing-disk is secured by the same screw 7" which secures the block 10. Before fastening the block 10 in position I forcibly drive thereinto a stifi wire or rod 12, so that it depends vertically therefrom and is immovable therein. Upon the lower end of this rod is connected the usual sponge or similar device 13.

In a modified form of the device shown in Fig. 3 I provide a knob or handle 14:, provided with a screw 15, inserted into said handle or knob and provided with a reverselythreaded lower end 16, which is screwed into the block 10.

The operation of this device will be readily understood from the foregoing description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the following statement, and the advantages resultant from the use of my invention will be manifest to all who are conversant with devices of this character. The bottle being filled with the liquid dressing or the like, the cap 7 is placed between the same and the said cap turned so as to bring its projections or lugs 9 into engagement with the bayonet-shaped projections 8, formed upon the neck of the bottle. The packing-disk 11 rests upon the mouth of the bottle, and in this movement of the cap the bottle is effectually sealed by the said disk. When it is desired to use the dressing, the cap is turned a quarter-turn, whereupon it may be removed from the bottle, carrying with it the liquid-dressing swab or sponge. Since the elongated block 10 is narrower than the mouth of the bottle, it olfers no resistance and the swab may be lifted easily from the bottle. By holding the cap 7 in the hand the dressing maybe applied to a shoe or other object. As the block is of wood and the wire 12 is driven thereinto and as the said block is tightly secured to the cap by means of the screw 7 a rigid and firm connection of the swab-rod 12 is effected. The block may be applied easily and efficiently, as will be appreciated by those who have had occasion to use swabrods depending from cork stoppers, particularly after such stoppers have been withdrawn and reinserted into the bottle several times in the consumption of the dressing therein contained. It will not be possible for the rod 12 to move laterally relatively to the handle or its support, as it is rigidly connected to a rigid block, and the said block may not move laterally relatively to the cap, since it is secured by the screw 7", which extends an appreciable distance thereinto, and upon the least sign of looseness of the said block it can be made rigid by tightening the screw. The resiliency of the packing-disk operates in connection with the tightened screw to tend to prevent any loosening of the block, and the said disk and the tightened screw also prevent the blacking from getting around the top of the block beneath the cap and passing out through the central opening of the cap through which the screw is inserted. Thus when the cap is tightened upon the bottle the packing-disk is brought down upon the mouth thereof to seal it, and when the screw 7 is tight the block 10 is sealed in its connection to the cap 7.

By the use of the modified form shown in Fig. 3 the screw also serves to hold a wooden knob, which operates as a handle, and thereby presents additional advantages. I do not confine myself to this added improvement, though I claim the same as part of my invention, and in such specific scope of my invention as includes the fastening-screw as one of the elements of the combination its adaptability to the further function illustrated in Fig. 3 is contemplated as an advantage. In constructing or adjusting the device shown in Fig. 3 the block 10 and the knob 14 are oppositely turned to tighten themselves and each other upon opposite sides of the cap.

By the use of my invention it will be seen that it is quite impossible for the blacking to spatter over the person in consequence of the sticking of the stopper, that the bottle may be opened and the contents used with great facility, that there will be no danger of the swab breaking off half of the stopper, as at present, that the swab will have a rigid connection with the handle, thereby facilitating the work of applying the dressing, that a perfect sealing of the bottle and its parts is accomplished, notwithstanding the repeated opening of the device, and that with all these advantages the device is simple, cheap, and the parts can be assembled and adjusted from time to time, as required, very easily, and that in all these advantages the several parts of the invention have a constant combinative efiect.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A holder for liquid shoe-dressing and the like, comprising a bottle, and a closure device composed of an incasing cap having positive means of attachment to the said bottle, a vertically-elongated wooden block narrower than the bottle-mouth and rigidly secured centrally of and depending from the said cap, and a swab-rod having its upper end rigidly inserted in the lower end of the elongated block, and carrying the liquid swab or sponge.

2. A holder for liquid shoe-dressing and the like, comprising a bottle, an incasing cap provided with positive means for locking it to the bottle, an elongated block 10 of rigid material, and narrower than the mouth of the bottle, depending centrally from the said cap, a packing-disk intervening the same and the said cap and. adapted to be brought down into compressible relation with the bottle-mouth by the locking of the cap, an adjustable fastening inserted through the top of said cap, through the packing-disk and into the elongated block 10, which connects the same rigidly to the cap and seals its connection thereto by the said disk, and a swab-rod having its upper end rigidly inserted into the lower end of the elongated block, and carrying the liquid swab or sponge.

3. A holder for liquid shoe-dressing and the like, comprising a bottle, and a closure deviceconsisting of a cap having means for positively locking it to the bottle, an elongated wooden block 10 narrower than the mouth of the bottle and depending from the center of the cap, a packing-disk intervening the same and the cap, a swab-rod having its upper end driven into the lower end of the said block and carrying the liquid swab or sponge, and ascrew inserted through the said cap and the packing-disk and into the elongated block to secure the same rigidly to the cap.

4. A-holder for liquid shoe-dressing and the like, comprising a bottle, and a closure device consisting of a cap having means for positively looking it to the bottle, an elongated wooden block 10 narrower than the mouth of the bottle and depending from the center of the cap, a swab-rodhaving its upper end driven into the lower end of the said block and carrying the liquid swab or sponge, a handle or knob mounted upon the top of said cap, and a reversely-threaded screw inserted into the elongated block and into said handle or knob whereby the said block and knob may simultaneously be tightened upon the cap.

5. A holder for liquid shoe-dressing and the like, comprising a bottle formed with one or more angular or bayonet-shaped projections upon the outside thereof, and a closure device therefor consisting of an incasing cap formed with inwardly-directed lugs or projections adapted to operate in connection with the bayonet-shaped projections upon the bottle to eifect a locking and tightening con nection of the said cap therewith, an elongated conical wooden block centrally depending from the said cap and narrower than the bottle-neck whereby it is freely removable therefrom, a swab-rod having its upper end driven intothe lower end of the said elongated wooden block wherebyto have a rigid and immovable bearing therein, and carrying upon its lower end the liquid swab or sponge, a packing-disk inserted between the upper face of the block and the under or inner face of the cap, and adapted to bear upon the bottle-mouth and be compressed upon the same by the tightening of the cap thereon in its locking movement, and a screw inserted through the outside of the cap and through the packing-disk and into the top of the wooden block to adj ustably join the said block rigidly to the said cap and in compressible relation with the said disk.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in'presence of the subscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MINER.

Witnesses:

FRANK OLIVER JOHNSON, ALVAN MELn-EN RICE. 

